Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
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PAGE 94<br />
understood <strong>and</strong> been willing to engage in sexual c<strong>on</strong>tact, they may still<br />
have been abused because <strong>of</strong> the positi<strong>on</strong> or motivati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> the other<br />
pers<strong>on</strong> (McCarthy, 1999: 69).<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Literature</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Review</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> Provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Appropriate</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Accessible</strong><br />
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are<br />
McCarthy <strong>and</strong> Thomps<strong>on</strong> (1997) have progressed this work by drawing<br />
Experiencing Crisis Pregnancy<br />
a distincti<strong>on</strong> between abuse as defined by the law in Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
Wales (for example, prior to the Sexual Offences Act, 2003, laws existed<br />
to afford protecti<strong>on</strong> against abuse involving a pers<strong>on</strong> with a severe<br />
learning disability, staff abusing a client or some<strong>on</strong>e overpowering the<br />
pers<strong>on</strong> using physical violence) <strong>and</strong> abuse as defined by inequality in a<br />
relati<strong>on</strong>ship, significant difference in ability levels or where <strong>on</strong>e pers<strong>on</strong>’s<br />
sexual needs are met at the expense <strong>of</strong> the other’s.<br />
McCarthy (1999) argues that laws designed to relate to adults without<br />
learning disabilities may be applied to adults with learning disabilities<br />
without any c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> given to the limited capabilities <strong>and</strong> pressures<br />
that they may have faced. This is particularly so in cases <strong>of</strong> rape or sexual<br />
abuse, which <strong>of</strong>ten st<strong>and</strong> or fall <strong>on</strong> the issue <strong>of</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sent. C<strong>on</strong>sent will<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten be interpreted very simplistically, with no account being taken <strong>of</strong><br />
why a pers<strong>on</strong> with learning disabilities may have c<strong>on</strong>sented. O’Hara &<br />
Martin (2001) assert that the lack <strong>of</strong> power many people with intellectual<br />
disability face in their relati<strong>on</strong>ships may make it difficult to be sure<br />
whether c<strong>on</strong>sent has truly been given.<br />
3.5 Approaches to determining capacity<br />
Three broad approaches that might be useful in assessing capacity have<br />
been differentiated (Murphy <strong>and</strong> Clare, 2003):<br />
Outcome approach argues that where an individual makes a<br />
decisi<strong>on</strong> that differs from most other people’s, his or her capacity<br />
should be called into questi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Diagnostic (status) approach involves inferences based <strong>on</strong> a<br />
pers<strong>on</strong>’s membership <strong>of</strong> a specific populati<strong>on</strong> sharing some<br />
characteristic, such as gender, age, ‘race’ or sexual orientati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Historically this approach has been used to limit the decisi<strong>on</strong>making<br />
<strong>of</strong> men <strong>and</strong> women who need or receive treatment <strong>and</strong>/or<br />
support because <strong>of</strong> a ‘mental disorder’.